Caw-bbushiitg machinib



C. T. SMALL.

CAN BRUSHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. I9I8 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E IIIIK r IIII I I IIII I15 W 2221112222222; 25 1111513211; 25 II 2'?W'ITJV'ESS INVENTOR.

WW4. QT Small.

By. W

ATTORNEY.

C. T. SMALL.

CAN BRUSHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. 1918 Patented Aug. 12, 1.919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- C, Small.

ATTORNEY.

cHEsLnY r. sivrAL 0F sr. LOUIS, MISSOURI;

'cAN-BRUSHIN MACHINE.

Specification of l letters ltatent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.-

Application filed May 8, 1918. Serial No. 233,237.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'L'CHESLEY T. SMA LL, a citizen of the United States0'f AIne1'lCa, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri,United States of America, have inventeda certain new. and useful Can-Brushing Machine, of which the following is such a full, clear, andexact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to \vhich it.ppertainsdomake and use the same, reference bein had to; theaccompanying drawings, forming part'of this specification. I

My invention relates to a can brushing machine, and more particularly toone which is adapted to beapplied to the conveyer of a can fillingmachine. j s In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of;can brushing machine made in accordance with my invention, together witha portion of the conveyer of a can filling machine, to which the same isapplied, Figure l is a top plan view, partly in section; Fig. 2 is aside View; Fig. 3 is an'enlarged section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;Fig. dis a diagram illustrating the action of the brushes; and Fig. 5 isan enlarged section takenon the line55 ofFig. f

10 indicatesithe T-rails of the ,conveyer of a can filling machine.These T-rails 10 are provided with slots in which travel chains 11, thecans be'ingcarried upon the upper surfaces of said chains. Passingthrough the are rods 12, upon which are car- T-rails l0 riedbrackets 13,supporting a, guide-rail 14, for guiding the cans traveling upon thechains 11. All of the above described parts are like those shown and,described in my prior application'for'patent for a can filling m'achine,Serial-No. 184,990, filed August 11,1917, and form no part of the present invention, except in combination with the parts hereinafter to bedescribe 15 are side frames, each of which is pro vided with a pair ofhubs 16, passing around the cross rods 12, hereinbefore described. Theframes can be adjusted toward and away from the conveyor, and are heldin position by means of set screws 17. 18 are vertical spindles carriedin roller bearings 19 (Figs. 3 and 5) which bearings are con tained inbrackets 20, secured to the said frames 15. The number 0% spindles 18may be varied to meet the requirements of the machine. In the drawings Ihave shown a set of three spindles, as carried by each of the sideframes 15. Mounted on each of the spindles 18 are a number of brushmembers 21, each of which is provided with one or more annular rows ofbristle tufts The brush members 21 are secured to the spindles 18 bymeans of set screws 23, as

shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. By loosening the set screws 23 some elfthe brush members 21 may be removed, or more brush members may be added,so as to adapt the ma chine to cans of varying heights. These set screws23 also permit the brush member 21 to be relatively adjustedaround thespindles 18,so that the vertical rows of bristle tufts 22 maybe broughtinto alinement, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, or the tufts of thevarious brush members may be staggered or otherwise relatively placedsoas to securethe best results upon the particular kind of cans upon whichthe machine is to operate.

In order to avoid any interference with the action of the bristles uponthe cans throughout their entire length, I remove a portion of each ofthe guide rails 14 adjacent -to the frames 15 and secure across thespaces thus formed a thin guide rail 24:, which is adapted to passbetween two of the annular rows of bristle tufts without interferingwiththe action of the brushes, as best s'hown'in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Inorder to rotate the spindles 18 I provide each of said spindles with apulley 25. Two of the spindles are also provided with a second pulley26.-'The pulleys 25 of the middle and last spindle 18 are surrounded by abelt 27, while the pulleys 26 of the middleand-first spindle aresurrounded b a similar belt 28. The pulleys 25 of the rst spindlesare'driven bymeans of belts 29 which pass around pulleys 30 upon a crossshaft 31, upon which is mounted a driving pulley 32, by means of whichthe machine is driven from any suitable source of power. As the spindles18 are vertical and the shaft 31 is horizontal, the belts 29 arequartered, and this together with the fact that it is desirable toadjust the frames 15 toward and away from the conveyer withoutdisturbing the pulleys 30, requires the use of a round flexible belt fordriving the pulleys 25. In order to secure' this result I form the belt29 of a coil of spring wire. The belts 27 and 28 may also be formed ofsimilar coils of spring wire, this, however, is not essential, and anyordinary form of belting may be used for these belts 27 and 28.

The individual bristle tufts 22 of each annular row are arranged injuxtaposition around the periphery of the brush members 21, but arenormally out of contact, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, anddiagramarrows A in Fig. l.

tufts 22 upon the cans inatically in Fig. 4. The belts 29 are soarranged as to drive the brush members 21 in the same direction asindicated .by the The action of the bristle 33 is such as to rotate themin the direction indicated by the arrow B of said figure as the saidcans are carried \forward in the direction indicated by the arrows C onthe conveyer chains 11. This rotation of the cans between the brushesallows the cans to be acted on throughout their entire periphery, thusremoving all the dust and particles of powder which adhere to the cansafter coming from the filling machine. The individual bristle tufts 22when brought into contact with the periphery of the cans are bent back,as indicated at D. After moving out of contact with the surfaces of thecan each bristle tuft springs forward and strikes with considerableforce against the preceding tuft, as indicated at E. This action freesthe bristle tufts of the adhering particles of dust or powder.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desiretosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a can brushing machine, the combination with a traveling conveyerfor the cans, guiding means for positioning the cans on said conveyer,of a pair of brushes, one situated at each side of the conveyer, meansfor independently adjusting each of said brushes toward and away fromsaid conveyer, and means for rotating said brushes in the samedirection, whereby the cans are rotated on the conveyer as they passbetween said brushes.

2. In a can brushing machine, the combination with a traveling conveyerfor the cans, of a pair of vertical spindles, one sit- V uated at eachside of the conveyer, each of said spindles having mounted thereonbrushes comprising a plurahty of remov- Gopies of this patent may beobtained for rotated on the conveyer as bination with a travelingconveyer able brush members, whereby the machine may be adapted to cansof varying heights,

and means for rotating said brushes in the same direction, whereby thecans are they pass between said brushes.

3. In a can brushing machine, the combination with a traveling conveyerfor the cans, of a pair of vertical spindles, one situated at each sideof said conveyer, each of said spindles having mounted thereon a brushcomprising a plurality of members, means for relatively adjusting thebrush members around their axis of rotation, and means-for rotating saidbrushes in the same direction, whereby the cans are rotated on saidconveyer as. they pass between said brushes. I

4. In a can brushing machine,

for the cans, of a pair of frames, one arranged at each side of saidconveyer, means for adjusting said frames toward and away from saidconveyer, vertical spindles carried by said frames and provided withpulleys, brushes carried by said spindles, a driving shaft provided withpulleys, and elastic belts connecting the pulleys on said driving shaftwith the pulley on-a pair of said spindles. I

5. In a can brushing machine, the combination with a rail forming asupport for a traveling conveyer, of a pair of cross rods carried bysaidrail, a pair of guide rails supported from said cross rods, a pairof frames supported on said cross rods and provided with rotary brushes,and means for driving said brushes.

6. In a can brushing machine, the combination with a rail supporting atraveling conveyer, of a pair of cross rods carried by said rail, guiderails supported from said cross rods,

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ot Patents, Washington,D. G.

the com- 7

